Hello High Heelers,
This weekend I had a serious ‘happily single’ moment when I
left the DIY store with a tin of bright yellow paint, wood primer and the
correct paint brushes needed to turn my outside bench from dull to delightful
(I think I’ve been watching too many home improvement shows – even my language
is a little too chirpy!) You see, this particular bench is the first thing that
I excitedly purchased for ‘our new house’, prior to my wedding plans crumbling
between the crumpled sheets of other women.
On finding said bench, mysteriously placed on my balcony
early this year (normally people break into your house to steal things not to
return them – further evidence of my backward life at the time). I left the
unstolen item outside avoiding it and letting it wear down from the rain and
harsh sun – as punishment somehow. But on standing on my balcony, post-emotional-rollercoaster,
this weekend I realised that it’s not the bench’s fault. It’s a good bench with
bad memories. So I decided to give it a fresh identity and a coat of delicious
lemon paint. And guess what? I picked out the most insane shade I could possibly
find without having to consult anyone for their consent. Yes! It’s called ‘Sunny
Savannah’. And bright it is! It’s so striking that a random guy in line asked
me if I was sure that I’d picked the right paint. I told him ‘yes’ and that I’d
also picked the right relationship status to go with it. I then pouted and did
a hair flip thing for effect – probably making him cherish his wife’s choice of
neutral acrylics and mild temperaments.
Fortunately I had the good sense to place a ground sheet
under the bench before I got stuck into my DIY deed for the day. Unfortunately,
I brought it inside my home as it’s been rather rainy and moist outside over
the past few weeks. A battle soon ensued. It was me against the primer. And the paint won. The bench was merely
collateral damage. First off, I struggled to open the stupid tin as it painted
my once-perfectly manicured nails the wrong hue – eeuw! I had primer on my
toes, clothes, face and elbows (and goodness knows where else it’ll turn up in
the coming days). Yet, I didn’t manage to quite get it in all the right places
on the bench. Sigh! I even have streaks in my hair that have refused to budge
after three washes. Not to mention the speckled flecks of yellow on my academic
books in my study.
However, I’m glad that I painted my bench. I’m thrilled that its
part of my revived happy space and that it’ll leave past memories of ignorant
bliss behind while creating fun-filled moments of Friday afternoon cocktails
and high tea under the sun with my girlfriends. But I probably should have
approached this task in a different way. You see, my best friend is clever. She
is a set designer – as is her husband. They paint, hammer, build, draw, colour,
climb up scaffolding, swing from chandeliers… you get the point. And they do it
extraordinarily well. I don’t. I’m good at other stuff. When my friend needs
cupcakes iced, she calls me. When she needs a chocolate-sharing comrade, she
calls me. When she needs someone to pass tissues to her while watching a
serious chick flick, she calls me. Basically, when she needs my expertise, she’s
clever enough to use it. But not me. Nope. I think I’m brilliant enough to do
anything. Ego check! Guess what. I’m a terrible painter. I’m also not good at
hanging pictures. I’m completely incapable of reading maps and I have no sense of
direction. And sometimes I have no sense of anything at all.
Now let’s make sense of all this. This week let’s think about
what we’re actually good at and what we’re really not good at. Sometimes we
have to tackle the things that are challenging for us – but often we don’t.
Know your strengths and forgive yourself for your weaknesses. This week let’s
step up and be great at being ourselves. Let’s be realistic about being terrible
at being who we’re not. Let’s be honest. Let’s be genuine. Let’s be real. (I’ll
be doing it in yellow). Have wonderful week.
Yours in heels,
Jo
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